New Cub Scout Shooting Sports Rules

[packsaddle 753]

Some of our cub scouts went to a District Day Camp this past week.  I only talked to some of the Webelos parents, but they said they had the scouts lay on a mat to shoot BB's Guns.  Each scout got one shot, then they had to re-load.  One bb at a time!

 

Boy, were they excited.  I do not think any of them will be going back to Day Camp next year.

 

One BB at a time, huh? Here's the way to jazz that up. My son discovered it on his own when he was that age and I had given him an air rifle to learn marksmanship.

He discovered that if you make the target a can of seltzer, you get instant gratification for a solid hit. There's no reason why water balloons wouldn't do just as well. Plus, if they're not being thrown at anyone, you can make them bigger than an egg, lol.

[HICO_Eagle 93]

This isn't new and it isn't related to the belt loop changes.

 

RichardB is correct about no unit-level shooting activities for Cubs.  No need to call National for clarification on this one.  The National Shooting Sports Manual (http://www.scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor%20Program/pdf/30931_WB.pdf) is quite explicit on page 42:

 

Cub Scout shooting sports programs may be conducted only on a district or council level. Archery and BB gun shooting are restricted to day camps, Cub Scout/ Webelos Scout resident camps, council-managed family camping programs, or to council activities where there are properly trained supervisors and all standards for BSA shooting sports are enforced. Archery and BB gun shooting are not to be done at the pack level.

 

 

All shooting ranges in the Cub Scout program must be supervised by a qualified range master who is at least 18 years of age and who meets the minimum requirements. See specific qualifications and training requirements for BB gun and archery range masters under “Shooting Sports Personnel Descriptions†in Chapter 1, and in Section V, “Archery and BB Guns.â€

 

As far as archery at a professional facility goes, the NSSM requires the following for "qualified range master" (page 10):

 

BSA Archery Range Master
• Eighteen years of age or older and trained by a National Camping School shooting sports director or USA Archery/NFAA Level 1 archery instructor to set up and operate a safe archery range for a Cub Scout or Boy Scout archery program according to BSA standards located in Section V of this manual, “Archery and BB Guns.â€
• Archery training must be renewed every two years, and this person must have a current Training Course Certificate, No. 33767.

 

As long as the professional facility has properly certified instructors (and I'd question their viability if they're running a facility without proper certifications), there is no problem here for Boy Scouts (again, no unit-level shooting for cubs).  Bad Wolf's shooting sports committee is wrong if they are allowing this for cubs but the reality is there are unlikely to be any repercussions as the chances of an accident at the professional facility are probably lower than at day camp.

 

To quote Willy Wonka, "It's all there! Black and white, clear as crystal!"  (Note:  To my knowledge, there is no Section 37B in the NSSM.) 

 

As far as Troop185's day camp experience goes, the NSSM actually changed this year to allow use of the magazine in BB guns (and .22s for Boy Scouts!) so they no longer have to fire BBs one at a time.  His council may be relying on the checklist for the Basic Shooting Activity for BB guns (starting on page 90) which has cubs loading BBs into chamber and therefore implies single-shot operation but page 86 says the following:

 

Scouts do not have to load one BB at a time and shoot before loading another BB. They can load at one time all the BBs they are given.

 

I know it says "Scouts" not "Cub Scouts" but the context of the entire page is about BB shooting for Cubs -- the only time we have Boy Scouts shoot BBs is when we have joint Boy Scout/Webelos activities and have to have all activities open to Webelos or in the cases where we are unable to use .22s or the air rifles we purchased from CMP (e.g., rifle merit badge classes at Bass Pro).

 

Our council still runs our cub shootarees in single shot mode for the safety of participants (and sanity of the range officers!) but we make extra effort to make the events fun and enjoyable.  All the cubs look like they're having fun and I've never received any complaints about shooting one BB at a time -- to the contrary, I still get comments from parents weeks and even months later about how much fun their boys had.

[christineka 35]

 

 

The matrix also says cubs cannot cook but we all know we let them.

 

Cubs can't cook?  What about the requirements in Wolf to plan and help cook an outdoor meal?  How about the one that requires the boy to fix his own meal and wash his dishes?  It does not say he is not allowed to cook that meal.

[Eagle94-A1 2685]

Cubs can't cook?  What about the requirements in Wolf to plan and help cook an outdoor meal?  How about the one that requires the boy to fix his own meal and wash his dishes?  It does not say he is not allowed to cook that meal.

 

It is my understanding that a lot of the G2SS is based upon business practices, laws, etc, and not Scouting reality. So there are discrepancies between what is done for advancement or in reality, and what is written. Best example is the info about service projects. Those uner 14 can no longer use their little red wagon to transport stuff for service projects.  But they can do PushMobiles at the National Scouting Museum, or use wagons to transport camping gear.

[MrBob 96]

Next iteration of the G2SS will probably say that Cubs aren't allowed to go outside anymore...  

[JoeBob 606]

 Each scout got one shot, then they had to re-load.  One bb at a time!

 

Boy, were they excited.  I do not think any of them will be going back to Day Camp next year.

Yep.  We're trying to teach aim and control.  One shot, one kill.  Aim small, miss small.

 

'Spray and pray', as taught on TV and video games, is what gets innocent bystanders killed.

 

Heck, my deer rifle is a single shot (Ruger #1 in .270).  But I don't miss.

[Gone 435]

Yep.  We're trying to teach aim and control.  One shot, one hit.  Aim small, miss small.

BSA Censored.

 

[super Soakers excluded as being too dangerous]